Deception
by Amicus LaFae
Summary: Hawkeye finally finds someone who isn't Mustang. How will the colonel react, especially with a new murderer on the loose? Feelings he never knew he had begin to appear as he deals with extra work. [Royai.]
1. Prologue

Deception

**Disclaimer**: Sadly, I do not own FMA. If I did, do you think I'd be writing fanfics about it?

**A/N**: Alright, so this is my first Full Metal Alchemist fanfic. I have it outlined sorta, so just bare with me, and please, PLEASE, for the love of Roy Mustang: review!

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Chapter 1: Prologue

Everyone could see it, and just about all of central knew it. Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye were destined to be together since they started working with eachother. But the timing always seemed wrong. Even though Riza sat back and watched Roy go about with other women and with work, Roy continued to ignore the part of him that wanted her. Of course, neither of them had admitted it to themselves, but that had to change eventually, right?

Eventually came too soon, taking the pair by utter surprise.

As usual, Roy sat at his desk, scribbling hastely on a paper. A stack of folders sat to the side of the desk and other papers were strewn about. He had waited for the last possible minute to finish his work to make the deadline on time. While he sloppily filled forms out and signed things, Riza sat at another desk, the only other occupant in the room. She was temporarily distracted from her own work, letting her gaze linger on the Colonel, filled with amusement.

Feeling her stare almost burning a whole through him, he glanced up, but kept on writing. "What is it, Hawkeye?" His tone was deep and slightly annoyed.

Before she could stutter out an excuse, Riza caught herself and went back to her own papers, acting as if it was nothing. "You should have done those earlier, sir. They've been sitting on your desk all day." Roy couldn't help but scoff at her accusation that sounded too much like a mother scolding a child for not doing his homework.

"You could do it for me, Hawkeye. I've got somewhere to be tonight," joking, of course, he continued to finish the many documents stacked up high, going to the one on top now.

"Again, they've been there all day. . ." she couldn't help but think of where he might be going. _Another date? _She asked herself, her heart giving an involuntary flip. What was that? Could she be. . . no. She would never admit to being jealous of those other women. Not like he really cared for them anyway.

No response came from her superior that time and they both finished up, Roy just getting his in by the deadline. His mind still strayed back to that awkward silence with Hawkeye. Was that a blush he'd seen? He almost felt pity for the woman. _Almost._

The truth was that on the outside he showed no compassion, except the usual to his closest subordinants, for her. Not like anything more was allowed anyway. A relationship could jepordize everything. Yes, he was too dense to realize what lay underneath all of that.

Rounding the corner from the office where he'd just dropped off the folders, Mustang came short a step from running into none other than Maes Hughes. Hughes was a good man who most people liked and respected, but he could just go on and on about Elysia. Sure enough, here came the pictures.

"Oh, Roy! Have you seen the latest picture of Elysia? She's so cute, isn't she?!" The frame was shoved into Roy's face, causing him to retreat rather quickly. As he turned around, he ran into someone else. Hawkeye.

Both Riza and Roy looked away and he quietly apologized. That feeling of even having to apologize to her was angering the Colonel. What was going on here?

Peering around, Riza spotted Hughes and gave him a bright smile. _So lovely. Wait, no! Stop it, Mustang._

"Hello, Hughes," she saluted. "Colonel, didn't you say you had somewhere to be?" She inquired, looking back to Roy. A hope of his plans getting cancelled lingered on the edge of her mind.

"Oh, right, yeah. See ya'," Mustang left Hughes and Riza alone, feeling embarressed at having that brought up. Shaking the thoughts from his mind, he eventually made it to his date.

"Huh. . . that was weird," Hughes noted, watching Mustang leave. "Oh, well. Hawkeye! Have you seen-," Riza cut him off by simply being gone at this point. She had left as he watched the Colonel leave, which now put him all alone in the hallway. "Wha...?"

* * *

"I guess I'll never be that girl, huh Hayate?" Riza grinned, patting the black dog on the head. She was back in her apartment, getting ready for another lonely night. How little she knew that things might not be the same after that particular night.

Hayate just barked, obviously unable to understand. "Yeah," Riza sighed, slipping into her bed. Even though she felt bad for feeling the way she did, she couldn't help it. Getting over him was the hardest thing for her to do, but she had to move. She just had to.

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**A/N**: Okay, there's the short prologue! I promise it'll get better in the next chapters. I just wanted to get things started and going. Please review and tell me if you like it so far! I hope I can keep to their characters as much as I can. -Sweat.-

-Amicus LaFae


	2. New Alchemist, New Enemy

Deception  


**Disclaimer**: I don't own FMA. If I did, well I might be rich. /

**A/N**: Well, here's chapter 2! Woohoo. Thanks for all of your reviews, I'm so excited that people actually like this! As for the whole 'She doesn't HAVE to,' thing, trust me, Riza won't let you guys down! But, you'll have to see what really happens. And that was kind of a typo in the first one. I meant to say 'move on,' instead of just move. My bad! Anyway, before you get too bored with my rants, here it is! Hope you like it.

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Chapter 2: New Alchemist, New Enemy

The rumors flew fast through Central like gossip in a small town. A new state alchemist was around. Supposedly he was young and handsome as well as having great abilities.

"I'll just have to see this for myself," Roy was in his office, slacking off as he spoke with Jean Havoc.

Smoke billowed around the subordinant's face where he sat across from Roy.

"Yeah, he seems to be a really good alchemist. Great even!" he sighed. "Even a ladies' man..." he wasn't please with this information and it showed. Noting the glare from Mustang, he quickly caught himself.

"But, not near as good as you, Colonel!" Havoc laughed nervously while scratching the back of his head.

Mustang didn't reply, but simply stood and took to staring out of the window. A distant look spread over his face while he looked out at nothing in particular.

"I wa-," Roy was cut off moments later as the door swung open, revealing Riza holding several folders in one arm. She looked just as she had the last time they had spoken with her hair always up, and always wearing pants. A smirk flashed on Roy's lips as he thought about the mini skirt rule he was one day going to establish.

"Hello Colonel," she too saw his expression once it turned back to the glare, but she didn't act the same way as Havoc, whom she gave a small wave to.

"I assume the rumors are ture then," her own expression was set like stone, but there was a mischevious look in her burgandy eyes.

When Roy said nothing, Havoc replied, "Yeah, I guess." With the Colonel's foul mood and Riza's arrival, he took his leave with a salute to the pair.

Setting the new folders on Roy's desk, Riza began the day's briefing.

"It might please you to know that Edward and Alphonse have finally reported in. They're still around Resembol, but they're fine." Some of yesterday's thoughts still ran through her mind. She wondered what Roy had really done last night. Even though she wanted to let go, it was proving difficult, especially since she had to seem him just about everday. Not to mention the fact that she had vowed to protect him.

No reply came. Roy was still standing at the window, so Riza took her seat and began working again. There wasn't much to do that day, that they knew of, but Roy still continued to evade the growing stack of papers on his desk.

"Hawkeye," he turned from the window and set his piercing gaze on her. His irises were almost black from that distance and seemed to blend with his pupils. "I want to meet this new alchemist. Get him in here as soon as you can." It was what he was going to instruct Havoc to do, but that was no longer a choice.

"Yes, sir." Riza gave him a nod, only glancing up at the tall man. "Wait, Colonel, where are you going?" A confused look creased her face as Mustang left the room, not bothering to answer her.

_Insufferable man_, she thought. _How do you expect to move up if you're never even working? And how will you even meet the newest alchemist if you're out gallavanting around?_ The questions were only to herself as her eyes lingered on the closing door.

About an hour after leaving his office, Roy was entering again to an unfamiliar sound. Laughter. Not just any laughter, but a woman's laughter. Yeah, women around the military laughed occassionaly--just not Hawkeye. Standing agape in the doorway, Roy looked at Riza who was indeed the one so full of joy as she stood with someone else. The new alchemist.

Still standing there, quite ignored, Roy took in the appearance of this newcomer. The young man was just about as tall as Mustang with defined features and a toned physique showing through the navy uniform. Emerald eyes peered out, only looking at Riza, beneath a bit of sandy hair that was pulled into a pony tail at his neck. The ends of his hair didn't go far, so it wasn't enough for Roy to actually pick at.

_But why is she laughing?_ He wondered, blinking several times before slamming the door shut. Both Riza and the man snapped to look in his direction, wearing shocked faces of their own.

"Oh, hello sir! You instructed me to bring him here," Riza was the first to speak up, giving a salute to Roy. Straightening beside her, the stranger saluted as well.

"Yes, thank you, Hawkeye." Beady, narrow eyes rested on the long-haired man. "I'm Roy Mustang, as you've probably heard," his ego was itching to show through and tell this guy what he was really up against.

"Ah, of course I have. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mustang. I'm Alexander Downing," his hand outstretched to Roy, who simply pushed it aside as he went behind his desk.

"Downing," he mused aloud in a rather deep voice, one that Riza only heard him use when trying to woo a woman. "Yes. I assume it'll be exciting to work with a new state alchemist, hm?"

"I hope so, sir. Man. . . the real Flame Alchemist, right here! I never thought I'd get to see the day," a cheesy grin spread over Alexander's face as he put on the act with a gleam shining in his emerald eyes.

Riza was already sitting at her desk, letting the men converse about normal things, trying to out-do the other in turns. _Typical male behavior_, she sighed inwardly.

"Well, maybe I'll give you an autograph," the same gleam in Mustang's own eyes accompanied with a wink. "Have they given you a title yet?"

"Nah, they're trying to decide still." Alexander rubbed at the back of his neck, smiling broadly again. Roy noticed that sometimes he looked so young and innocent.

Roy remembered his battle with Edward not long after they had met. They both got to show their skills off as well as destroying the entire concrete ring, which was put together alchemists in time.

"Maybe we can have a little spar sometime. See eachother's skills?" Roy sat back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest in a protective manner.

"That'd be great! Tell me the time and I'll be there," he nodded a few times before the door opened again. Everyone looked this time to see a nervous-looking Hughes entering.

"H-hey, Roy," he slipped in, quietly shutting the door behind himself. "The, uh, Fuhrer wants to meet with you for a second."

Roy's face dropped as Hughes played it off by waving to Riza and Alexander. "What for?" Roy was glaring again, this time in suspicion.

"No one tells me anything, you know that!"

"That's because you can't keep your mouth shut." Roy sighed, looking over to Hawkeye. "I guess I have to go see _King Bradley,_" his tone was full of sarcasm.

Nodding to each of the three in turn, Roy slipped on his gloves and exited the room, dreading the meeting to come. Seeing the Fuhrer was never a good thing.

* * *

A folder sat open in Roy's hands where he sat across from the Fuhrer, going over the papers he was recently given. Bradley had his usual cheery grin on, waiting for a reply and possibly some insight as to what was going on.

"So, a new alchemist murderer. I guess people really dislike us," Roy's brows knitted together as he glanced over the information. There had already been several killings in the East, and they seemed to make a trail toward Central.

"Ha ha, Mustang, I assume you'll get on this case right away, won't you?"

"O-of course, sir." Roy saluted and took that as a departing statement. Taking the folder with him, he slipped out and began walking through the halls, thinking over the situations he had heard about. Every alchemist that had been killed was found with their insides full of water. No one knew how it got there, but it had to be by someone. So many incidents couldn't just be coincidence. Now the only question was who was doing it and how.

Back in Roy's office, he consulted Riza and Hughes after sending Alexander away. No way was he going to let the new guy in on something like this. Sighing, he slumped back into his chair and ran a hand through his raven locks.

"There's a new alchemist murderer. Somehow filling their insides with water and drowning them," he explained in a weary voice. Of course he worried about their lives, but it would just be such a hassle. So much extra paper work along with the investigation, more or less babysitting Ed and Al. What a nightmare.

"What?" Riza asked, speaking up finally. She hadn't really spoken since the Colonel had entered when she was with Alexander.

"Aw, man," Hughes plopped into a chair as if the information itself was weighing him down.

"What are you going to do?" Riza inquired of the Colonel, dropping her work.

"We have to investigate and get to the bottom of it, I suppose. There's still a good site that we can drive out to and check out. Guess this is going to have to wait!" He shoved the papers on his desk all over to one side in a sloppy pile. That at least was something good.

"Right. . . shall we go, then?" Riza was already standing with a set of keys in her hand. It was customary of her to drive him around even though he was perfectly capable of doing it himself.

"Yes. Wait here, Hughes. See what you can find out about this Alex guy," Roy gave him a meaningful look and followed Riza out to the military car they always used. Hughes though, was completely lost as to what he was supposed to actually do.

"Suppose I'll just show him my Elysia!" He grinned, rushing out to find the man, gripping a picture frame in his hand. At least this guy hadn't seen the pictures and heard all of the stories multiple times.

Hawkeye grimaced at the explanations given by some of the other military personnel. "How could they fill the lungs with water?" Talking to no one in particular, she bent over the most recent victim. It was even closer to Central than they thought. This murderer actually had a plan and possibly a goal and target; just leaving the breadcrumbs to the real purpose.

They still had no explanations, only theories. Between this and Alex, I think the next few days are going to actually be amusing, Roy thought, watching Riza pick at the scene, finding nothing to help them.

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**A/N**: Well, there! I hope it's not too short. . . and I promise things will be getting juicier as time goes on. Just keep reviewing and giving me insight and I'll keep updating. x3

-Amicus LaFae


	3. A Torn Heart

Deception

**Disclaimer**: No FMA owning here. :

**A/N**: Uhm.. thanks for all the reviews! I'm glad people actually like this and are keeping up with it. I hope this is longer. I HATE when I can't get it out enough. Ahem. Here you go

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Chapter 3: A Torn Heart

A large group of both men and women had gathered around the cement arena, all still in their military garb. Most were cheering loudly, putting bets on one of the 'contestants', but some such as Riza and Sciezska stood idly by, only there to make sure no one killed eachother. Riza, of course, had her pistols at her sides, always ready to draw them within a second.

Two men of opposite hair color, yet pretty much the same in most aspects, faced eachother in the center of the ring. The infamous smug look was worn by Roy who angled himself toward Alexander who wore a similar expression, though his was obviously new to everyone.

"Well," Roy addressed in a smooth voice, "are you going to start?" A thin eyebrow raised playfully on his forehead as he stood motionless, only a few strands of hair blowing in the wind around him.

"I was hoping you'd do the honors, but I wouldn't mind," Alexander responded with a grin while pulling on a pair of white gloves that almost matched Mustang's.

"Oh, please go ahead. They've all seen my little tricks," Roy waved a hand toward the crowd surrounding the outer limits. Alexander's eyes followed the gesture and soon set back to Mustang and he nodded, still grinning.

"I'll be sure not to let them down."

Alexander was already in motion, sprinting toward Mustang and dashing to the side. As he moved his body to the side, he swooped down in what looked like a miss, and pulled up behind Roy.

Mustang only let out a low chuckle. "Did you forget something?" He asked, ignoring the gasps and shocked faces of the crowd. This was something that hadn't been too apparent to him as Alexander passed.

Still in a blind sight to Roy, Alexander laughed a bit of his own. "Actually, no. I did all that I intended. Your turn."

What? Roy's eyes narrowed as he went to turn toward Alexander, coming up short. Well, he really didn't come at all. Looking down, Roy noticed his feet encased in a thick layer of ice that connected with the ground. His feet were frozen to the cement floor, which caused him to only stare like the people around them.

"What. . ." was all he could manage as he attempted to actually walk that way, temporarily forgetting his own alchemy.

"I'm just like you, Colonel, only different. Using alchemy to manipulate the water in the air, I use these," he gestured to his gloves as Roy twisted to look, "to help me freeze it."

Suddenly Roy remembered in a flash. "Heh. Of course." Snapping his fingers, Roy sent a flame to his feet, breaking off the case of ice. "Ice is no good against a fire though, is it?" He smirked. "I guess you already know how my alchemy works, hm?" Roy stepped foward, rubbing his thumb and middle finger together in a menacing way, as if taunting Alexander.

"Who doesn't?" Alexander responded rhetorically. "Using your pyrotex cloth gloves you create a spark and then use alchemy to manipulate the density of the surrounding oxygen, am I right?"

When no reply came, Alexander took that as a yes; one that Mustang would never really say with his outstanding ego and pride. Now they both knew eachother's techniques and how exactly they were use. The next thing was to just cease the other's abilities which happened to be all in the gloves.

Now free to move, Mustang completely turned to face Alexander, where he immidiately snapped his fingers, sending a burning flame in the man's direction.

Being quite agile, Alexander got out of the way just in time so that only a miniscule piece of his uniform was slightly scorched. 'I've got to get closer,' he cursed himself inwardly while trying to devise some sort of plan.

Reaching to the ground, Alexander began to freeze the concrete floor, sending a trail to the form of Mustang. Unforunately for Alexander, Roy jumped out of the way before turning into a human popsicle. Following with haste, Alexander ended up next to Roy, grabbin his wrist with his own hand.

After freezing the cloth, he moved to the other glove quickly so that no intial spark could be created. It would seeem that the famous Flame Alchemist was stuck.

As Alexander laughed to himself, Roy stiffly reached to his pocket, pulling from it a lighter. Keeping the lighter hidden within his palm, Roy flicked open the top and smirked.

"I'll always be one step ahea," was all it took for Alexander to cease his victory joy. A quzzical expression took over his face and he spotted the glint of a flam in Roy's hand.

In one last attempt at winning, Alexander touched the ground, sending another path of ice to wrap around Roy's legs. Taking no notice, more so ignoring, this action, a flame shot at Alexander, catching the ends of his pony tail. That was only to catch the other man off guard, so that when he straightened to stop the small fire, Roy sent another flame to his gloves, catching the cold material in a bit of fire. Even though Roy's own gloves were frozen to the point of not being able to start a spark, the transmutation circle could still take affect.

The crowd was cheering and yelling, but it wasn't over yet. A loud explosion reverbarated from the center as Roy blew a piece of the ground up, smoke soon filling that area and closing off everyone's views. Many negative comments were made about this, especially since they could still hear many noise coming from the two.

After several moments and more explosions, Roy sauntered from the smoke, making his way to the outside of the ring. A smirk was set on his lips and he nodded to the ones he knew more than others.

"Well, I hope you all bet on me," he said smoothly while passing them. All heads turned from the Colonel to settle back on the clearing smoke. With a grim, almost menacing face, Alexander sat on his knees. Shards of ice and a bit of water lay around him, indicating that he had at least put up a fight. Riza and Sciezska were soon at his side, helping him up, though he had no apparent injuries.

"Thank you, Riza," Alexander was already smiling again, only noticing that Hawkeye was there. He couldn't help but notice that she was quite pretty. Even with her hard-ass attitude she was appealing to the eye. Maybe he could get her to loosen up. . .

Noticing Alexander's gaze, a pink tint crept onto Riza's cheeks and Sciezska had to stop herself from laughing. Riza quickly turned from his stare and immidiately looked for Roy, though she didn't really know why, and also came up short as he had already left the scene.

Since there was no reason to stay, the three leftovers made their way back inside, Alexander going to clean up, Sciezska returning to the library, and Riza going straight to Roy's office.

Upon entering the small room, Riza had only excepted to see Roy slouching behind his desk as usual, but found two others in his place. More specifically, a large tin suit stood beside the desk as a much smaller boy searched through it. Of course he would be, but Riza didn't know why they were even back now.

"Edward," she called in a stern voice, causing the boy to jump up right away. 'Guess they didn't hear me come in.'

"Well, we sure didn't expect you to be back so soon," she continued in more of a conversational tone.

"Yeah, well, things got done early. . ." Ed was closing a drawer and stepping away from the desk, not wanting to risk a confrontation with Riza. Those types of things usually ended in gun shots.

"So, where is the old bastard anyway?" He added, placing his hands on his hips in an unhappy way. It was clear he might have actually missed Roy, though the whole desk-rooting routine might throw people off.

Riza chuckled softly to herself. "I figured he was in here. I have no more information than you do, Edward. Alphonse," she turned to the tin suit with a smile and continued, "how have you been? I trust your trip went well."

Al nodded and his little beams of light for eyes seemed to light up just a bit. "Yes, ma'am, it did." Ed shot a glance at Al as if warning him. Riza saw the glance, but decided not to mention anything just yet. This was a typical Ed and Al thing as far as she was concerned.

"We should get going," Ed piped up, moving to the door. "Tell that lazy bastard we're lookin' for him when you see him," he instructed, slipping out into the hall. Al followed, but turned to Riza before leaving.

"Thank you, Riza!" He called, giving a short salute before trailing after his older brother. Once the door had closed completely, Riza went back to her desk and waited there for the Colonel to actually show up.

A few minutes later, when the door handle turned, Riza's heart gave an involuntary flip just at the thought of Roy entering. She couldn't help but hate that feeling, especially when she knew, or at least thought, it was useless. The only thing that made it all better, yet worse at the same time, was the fact that it still wasn't Mustang coming in, but another state alchemist.

"Hello, Riza," Alexander grinned, inviting himself in. Sauntering over to her desk, he took to leaning upon the side, looking down at her. "They've decided a name, no matter how plain it might be," his eyes rolled sarcastically as he crossed his hands over his chest loosely.

"Oh, yeah?" Riza asked, trying to sound as interested as possible. Her mind was elsewhere.

"Mmhm. The Ice Alchemist. Original, huh?" There was an underlying tone of worry in his voice. Riza's absent mind wasn't unnoticable.

"Yeah, great," was all she said with a soft sigh. Alexander couldn't tell what exactly was bothering her, but he wanted to help. To him, his feelings for this woman he had just met were clear. He wanted to be with her, as if attracted by some unknown force. . . or other real intentions she would never know about.

Taking a piece of her golden hair between two fingers, he tucked it behind her ear. Only then did she really look at him for the first time. Sure, she had looked at him plenty, but never in that aspect of things. Was he trying to flirt with her? It was nice, she had to admit, but made her feel guilty at the same time, as well as angry. So many emotions at once were flooding through her, but she kept her cool. That's how she always delt with things.

Unknown to both Riza and Alexander, Roy had come around to his office, but stopped just outside of the door. There was a small creak in which he could just see through. He didn't care that he was more or less eavesdropping, even though it was his office, he just wanted to hear what they were saying.

"Is something wrong?" Alexander's eyebrows furrowed and he pulled his hand back, gazing into Riza's eyes for some sign of emotion. They were there, but he couldn't quite pick out the one he was looking for.

"N-no," she was stuttering which was very odd for her. Even Roy, outside the door, noticed this change.

"Good," Alexander smiled and pushed himself off of the desk's side, turning to face her more. His arms dropped to his sides comfortably and he looked her square in her smooth face.

"What is it. . .?" She almost said 'sir' at the end of her question, but somehow held it in. This situation was growing awkward, but she was excited all the same.

"Riza, are you and Mustang. . . involved in any way?" He said the question slowly, letting it sink in with her, also not wanting to be too up front about it. What if she was with him? What would he say or even do? He wondered if that was even allowed with their positions.

"Me and Roy?" Riza practically shouted in surprise.

"Yeah. You guys seem kinda' close," he shrugged it off as if it was nothing, though she thought it plainly obvious.

"I'm just his subordinant." Disappointment threaded the simple statement. "Nothing more," she smiled as a reasurrance to Alexander--who actually relaxed at the confirmation. He had heard from others that these two were closer than it would seem.

Roy couldn't move. His legs seemed frozen to the ground again, numb from all feeling. What was she saying in there? Of course, it was true though. They were nothing more, only coworkers. But that didn't mean he wasn't allowed to still picture her in a mini skirt, right?

"That's good to hear," Alexander responded, nodding his head a few times.

"Why's that?"

"Riza," serious like the first time he started with her name. She had temporarily looked down to her work, but this caused her to look up again. "Will you go out on a date with me?"

He couldn't take anymore and left in something close to a sprint. He didn't care where he went, it just had to be away from there. Maybe to a bar, or to Hughes'... but Hughes had a family, he couldn't just go over there. Not wanting to go to his own house, Roy left and went to his first choice, leaving much needed paperwork undone.

* * *

**A/N**: There's chapter 3! I actually finished it kinda' fast.. which makes me worry. -Shifty eyes.- Anyway, hope you liked it. :3 

Next week I have finals, so if things slow down, I'm really sorry, but I haven't forgotten

Please review.

Amicus Lafae


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